Virology Journal
 | This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (December 2021) |
 | |
| Discipline | Virology |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Linfa Wang |
| Publication details | |
| History | 2004–present |
| Publisher | |
| Frequency | Rolling |
| Yes | |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 |
| 5.55 (2021) | |
| Standard abbreviations | |
| ISO 4 | Virol. J. |
| Indexing | |
| ISSN | 1743-422X |
| OCLC no. | 56433791 |
| Links | |
Virology Journal is an open-access peer-reviewed medical journal published by BioMed Central. It publishes research related to viruses and the prevention of viral infection (including vaccination, the use of antiviral agents, and gene therapy). The journal was established in 2004 with Robert Garry (Tulane University) as founding editor-in-chief and has been edited by Linfa Wang since 2012. It aims to cover rapid communications amongst virologists.
Controversy
[edit]On 21 July 2010, Virology Journal published an article entitled "Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time".[1] According to Mark 1:29–33 and Matthew 8:14–15, the mother-in-law of Simon Peter "lay sick" with a febrile illness. Jesus then took her by the hand and the fever immediately left. This is also described in Luke 4:38–39. The authors rule out that the woman was possessed by demons, and conclude that she was struck with influenza as "the fever retreated instantaneously. This implies that the disease was probably not a severe acute bacterial infection (such as sepsis) or subacute endocarditis that would not resolved instantaneously" [sic].
This article created controversy amongst scientists, who decried the article from anywhere from "truly bizarre"[2] to "garbage",[3] as well as expressing puzzlement over how the article got published in the first place.[2][3][4] The editor-in-chief of Virology Journal originally commented that the submission underwent standard peer review, and was recommended for acceptance after modification by both reviewers, but later apologized for the publication of the article and announced that it would be retracted.[5] The article was retracted on 13 August 2010.[6]
Ellis Hon, the paper's lead author, told RetractionWatch that he agreed to the retraction after the amount of negative publicity generated by the paper.[7]
Abstracting and indexing
[edit]Virology Journal is abstracted and indexed in
References
[edit]- ^ Kam LE Hon; Pak C Ng; Ting F Leung (2010). "Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time". Virology Journal. 7 (1): 169. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-169. PMC 2918564. PMID 20663162. (Retracted, see doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-190, PMID 20707907, Retraction Watch)
- ^ a b Tara C. Smith (10 August 2010). "Biblical fever = influenza. You're kidding me, right?". Aetiology. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ a b PZ Myers (11 August 2010). "But what if she had vapors, or an imbalance of humors?". Pharyngula. ScienceBlogs. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ Bob O'Hara (10 August 2010). "The Virology of Christ". This Scientific Life. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
- ^ Robert Garry (21 July 2010). "Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time – Comments". Virology Journal. 7 (1): 169. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-169. PMC 2918564. PMID 20663162. S2CID 8124033. (Retracted, see doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-190, PMID 20707907, Retraction Watch)
- ^ Kam LE Hon; Pak C Ng; Ting F Leung (2010). "Retraction: Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time". Virology Journal. 7 (1): 190. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-7-190. PMC 2924865. PMID 20707907.
- ^ Ivan Oransky (12 August 2010). "The shroud of retraction: Virology Journal withdraws paper about whether Christ cured a woman with flu". RetractionWatch. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
Further reading
[edit]- Robert F. Garry (2004). "Virology on the Internet: the time is right for a new journal". Virology Journal. 1 (1): 1. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-1-1. PMC 524032. PMID 15507150.